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A few years ago my teenage daughter started customizing canvas shoes (which is now a business venture) and hasn’t turned back since. These are her tips and recommended supplies for best results.

Supplies
I am linking to products with my Amazon affiliate account. These are products we like.

Canvas shoes. You can use any colour you like. Black backgrounds make the images stand out nicely when you leave portions unpainted (see image above). [see Canvas shoes]

Acrylic primer. All purpose wall painting primer works great! You can also use Gesso (artist’s canvas primer). [See Primer]

Acrylic paints. Golden (brand) is top notch quality – goes on beautifully. You can also use any acrylic paints sold at craft shops such as Decoart, Martha Steward, Folk Art, artist’s acrylics, or acrylic wall paint. [See Acrylic paints]

If you can paint it on a flat canvas, you can probably paint it on canvas shoes.

Unless you’re an artistic daredevil, start simple. Pick basic designs you can fill with solid colours and outline with marking pen. From a distance, these simpler designs really look great.

Go DaVinci on your second pair when you’ve had some practice.

Before You Start

Try your design on paper first (to be sure you like it), then draw it on the shoes using an HB pencil. Heavy lines will show through the paint, so press lightly.

Green painter’s tape protects the soles of the shoes

Steps

Remove shoe laces.

Apply painter’s tape to any areas you do not want the paint to cover (such as the edge of the soles).

Prime the canvas areas you will be painting. Allow to dry completely (usually takes an hour). You want the canvas covered in primer, but not so thickly that you loose the texture. The texture helps the acrylic paints “grab” the surface.

Draw your design(s) on the shoes using an HB pencil. Go lightly or the pencil will show through the paint.

Fill in your designs with acrylic paint. Allow to dry completely.

Use marking pens to outline your designs and add details. Allow to dry.

Protect with Scotch Guard. Follow the product instructions. Alternately, you could use polyurethane, Mod Podge Outdoor, and some other durable outdoor sealant suitable for painted surfaces.

Remove painter’s tape, put the laces back in, and rock and roll.

Neatness counts: tidy edges with marker look great

Made A Mistake?

There’s a few options:

You can simply paint over the area again, or reapply primer (allow it to dry), and then draw and paint your design again.

Easy Does It

You want to be really careful when outlining the designs with marking pen. Find a comfortable position to support your hand and work slowly.

Embellishment Ideas

You can also use the marking pens to add text on top of the paint. Pick quotes, poetry, or graffiti! Anything goes. It’s your art—do what you love.

And remember to live long and prosper.

Bonus points if you can name any of the characters depicted on the shoes. Tell me in the comments!

For more detailed instructions, also see:

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About Melissa J. Will

Melissa J. Will is a home and garden blogger (writer, photographer, artist) from Ontario, Canada. Favourite obsessions include repurposed DIY projects and tutorials, organic gardening, creative garden ideas, debt-free living, nature (what more is there?), and sustainable living—all with a dash of humour and side order of freshly-grown salad greens.

With this question it will be obvious that I’m a beginner, but what is a HB pencil? I love this project and have everything I need to make my first pair, but I’ve never heard of an HB pencil. What a talent your daughter has. Growing up in your home if the talent was not in the DNA she certainly got it by seeing her mother create. Thanks so much for sharing.

This is a great guide, thank you for posting – I can’t wait to paint my first pair of shoes!

I have a question about the primer. Say you use the white primer you posted a link to and you’re painting a black shoe – does it dry white? And therefore should you prime only the areas of the shoe you’re going to paint?

Hi Shannon,
You need a few coats, but yes, the white primer appears white on black shoes. My daughter is the shoe painter and she likes to prime entire sections to give the shoes a unified appearance. If, for example, the toes will not be painted, she won’t prime that section on each shoe. I hope this helps!

The paint your daughter uses is a heavy paint. I’ve only used cheap acrylics for crafts, and I want to try my hand at a pair of shoes…. Does she add any water to her brush before she paints? Or does she add any water to it at all?

Hi does the acrylic not crack when the shoes are used? I’m confused between using a fabric medium and normal acrylic paint, or using a fabric paint as a base then using leather acrylic paint followed by a matte varnish to lock it in. I was thinking the leather acrylic as it would stretch but I have no idea. Thanks

Hi Amanda, We’ve found that it really depends on the shoe– some have canvas that’s really absorbant and wastes a lot of paint (requiring a lot of layers), others take the paint very well without primer. Because of this, we prime just to be on the safe side.

Hi 🙂 I have painted my first pair of shoes using your instructions, but after two “wears” the coloured acrylic paint has scratched right of the top of the white primer so now the white is showing through 🙁 do you think I have done something wrong?

I painted a pair of Target knock-off Vans using acrylic paints. I did not use a primer or a sealant because I was worried that the shoes would be too stiff afterwards. Unfortunately, as soon as I tried to wear them the paint started to crack. Does the Scotch Guard that you use prevent cracking in the paint? And is the canvas very stiff after you apply it?

Hi Alice, The Scotchguard just makes them repel water better. I think most types of shoes will show signs of wear when painted. Acrylic paints will always be stiff because they are essentially plastics. One thing you can do is, prime the shoes first, let the primer fully cure, and then break them in a bit before painting them so they’re not so stiff. We’ve also used polyurethane to protect the shoes. Apply several coats, several days apart, sand gently between coats, for a more durable surface. I hope this helps. 🙂

Hi Shianna,
You can use the same primer used for wall painting, in case that helps. Have you got a paint or department store where you live? They should have some if they sell house paints. And yes, that product you linked to on Amazon should work as well, although it might not give you much coverage (small bottle). Overall it’s much less expensive to use the wall primer if you can get some. Let me know if you need any more help.

Thanks! I’ll see if there is something on amazon. Unfortunately, all we have here is a tiny grocery store. The nearest regular town is about a twelve hour drive, so I think ordering is a little less troublesome.

Great tutorial Melissa and I’ve read through the comments you are very helpful. I’ve never tried canvas shoes as I only customize leather Nike’s. As for different paint options I reccomend others to try Angelus acrylic , its specifically made for leather and flexs without cracking.
For a finish sealant coat I use Angelus Matte finish which is a brush on..
Thanks for the tut going to give canvas a shot!

Thank you so much! I tried to do some shoes before reading this and didn’t use any primer. I was painting white lines on black shoes and it was soaking in and opaque looking. So frustrating. No I know to start with primer. How does she get the curves and lines so smooth? Is it just a good quality brush or does she use paint pens too? When I use a brush, even a fine one, the line comes out too thick. Thanks!

Hi Gayle, The finishing details around the paint colours are done with various marking pens to get those finer lines. One helpful tip I’ve found is to support your drawing hand with your other hand, so it’s resting on something (and won’t wiggle) when doing really fine work. I hope your next project goes well!

Hi!
Amazing shoe designs! Your daughter is really talented!
I was thinking about doing this, and my relatives have encouraged me, but was wondering if perhaps hairspray could be used instead of primer or gesso? I use it to stop the pages in my sketchbook from smudging, but would it work the same for this?
Thanks,
Lauren 🙂

I was wondering if you could tell me what your daughter charges for her shoes. I have a good friend who has painted a few, but is thinking of branching out into a consignment shop where she can paint for people who place orders based on her samples.

Hello! These shoes are very cool and I also, like your daughter am a teen artist hoping to sell customised shoes and I was wondering if it is allowed (copyright and such) to paint characters on shoes (such as link, star track, Disney characters, etc) and sell them. I’ve seen many people paint these characters but I guess in the back of my head I’m paranoid I’m breaking some kind of rule,

I apologise If I’m asking the wrong person, I’ve been researching the topic and I can’t seem to tell if it’s right or wrong , and I was curious if you had to do anything in particular to be able to draw these characters. I’m very hopeful to sell shoes and I’m just concered of any problems occurring

I love this project and love the idea of trying this out as well as wearing them!!! I’ve read everything above but didn’t fine the “care instructions” listed. Forgive me if I’ve missed that section. If you could direct me to the proper place OR just let me know, I would appreciate it 🙂
Thanks – Debbie

Love your daughter’s work! My 12 yr old has done something similar by just zentangling on the shoes with sharpies. She’s sold several pairs. I’m curious…does your daughter paint first, then sell or sell orders, then paint? We haven’t found a consistently reliable source of shoes so we’re concerned about relying on orders, but at the same time we get stuck with sizes/designs no one wants if she does it in advance.

I’m working on a pair for my wife and have run into a slight problem. While trying to transfer a team logo on the shoe, I noticed that the graphite is almost impossible to see against the navy blue canvas of the shoe. Other portions of the shoe have been painted white before adding and image, but in this particular spot I would like to leave the blue of the shoe as a background. Any tips on how to get something transferred to a dark portion of canvas? Thanks.

Have you tried using “Folk Art” Multi-surface acrylic paint?
I’ve recently used it on several canvas shoes and so far, the paint is holding up pretty good. Still, I’m afraid they will eventually crack with the normal use… I did not use any sealant or primer.

I too only have access to folk art acrylic paints. I did a pair of shoes earlier this year, no primer or sealant and it cracked after a few Times wearing them.
I’m wondering if using the polyurethane to seal would help it not crack.
Also.. I did a pair with a textile medium, same type of shoes and the cracking was minimal but still happening.

Hi Maritza, We’ve found that a sealant definitely slows cracking or prevents some but, if the shoe in places where the shoe bends and moves there is always going to be some. Dyes would be different, of course, because they are absorbed by the shoe material so no cracking would occur.

Great looking shoes! Just wanted to leave a comment for you regarding the concerns about cracking and washing. I use Liquitex gesso and Liquitex acrylics because they are designed to be fluid. After I paint them (they cover like regular acrylics) then I spray a layer of scotch gard and then a coat of acrylic sealer (just because I’m paranoid). My oldest shoes are four years old and I throw them in the washer and everything. They have never cracked. My first pair were painted with regular acrylics and they would up cracking over time. Just wanted to pass along another method and product that may help if you get anymore worries or maybe if you just wanted to play around with it yourself 🙂

I made two pair of Minecraft inspired shoes for my boys and they came out GREAT! I got a little more guts and decided to try the iron-on transfers, which worked. I was able to print the design, iron on the transfer (slowly, the shoes can’t take the heat I normally use), and painted over just the transfer with Mod Podge (the kind for fabric). I was worried they wouldn’t last long, but I made them last Christmas and they still look great! These are so much fun, thanks for the inspiration!!!

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